Red Horizon
by GippalGurl
Summary: Bella Swan is a reporter for a local newstation in Seattle. When mysterious disapperances arise in Forks Washington, Bella is sent on assignment to cover the story. There she meets Detective Edward Cullen who has some secrets of his own….AU Edward x Bella
1. Chapter 1

**Hello**

**Hello! And thanks for reading my Twilight Fic titled: Red Horizon.**

**I guess you could call this an AU fic revolving around our fave couple Bella Swan and Edward Cullen! There might be a little dash of Jacob Black thrown in there for flavor…. xP Please read and review! Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**Here we go!**

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_Chapter 1:_

"Isabella. Look closely at the screen. Look at your posture! Horrible! You are holding your microphone completely wrong. Not making eye contact with the person you are interviewing. You have such excellent potential; you just have to have some confidence!

I observe quietly as my boss Mr. Greenberg criticizes my every move on a small television set behind his desk. It's been one of those days. One thing after another in the life of Isabella Swan, reporter for Seattle's finest (In Mr. Greenberg's opinion at least) news station.

I look at the small television screen that has been paused for dramatic effect while my boss goes on and on about what I am doing wrong. You see, this morning I was sent out to cover one of my first news stories actually on camera. Not much really, just a local hero who stopped a man from stealing an old lady's purse.

On television I had to admit I did look uncomfortable. My overly starched gray suit and teased brown hair didn't help the situation at all. I really hated being in front of the camera. It made me feel too vulnerable. Like a child standing alone on stage in front of millions of people. Waiting….waiting….

UGH. Now you might be asking yourself why someone who is so uncomfortable in front of a camera would even think about becoming a reporter for a news station. I mean common sense would tell you that a reporter spends 99.9 percent of their time in front of a camera. Well, that's a long story. It involves an ex boyfriend not even worth mentioning and the words "Oh move to Seattle with me! Start a new life with me! I love you Bella! Don't go to college! There are plenty of amazing jobs out here! Plus I will take care of you."

One year later left me with an apartment too large for just myself and my fish. And a boyfriend who decided to move away with his ex girlfriend.

The short version is that I ended up working for this station as a temp just to make ends meet. I refused to move back to my mother and hear her tell me "I told you so Bella." I was an adult. I cold take care of myself. Enter the wonderful news station KFRT. Or as the employees liked to call it. KAY FART. Yes, yes I work at a news station whose call letters spell out a bodily function. Do you need a moment to stop laughing?

I started out simply filing papers away and helping out the big wigs when they needed coffee and whatnot. And then Mr. Greenberg spotted something 'unique' in me. And decided to train me to become what he thought was going to be Seattle's next biggest phenomenon. ISABELLA SWAN, STAR REPORTER FOR NEWS STATION 'KFRT' FIRST ON THE SCENE OF BIGGEST DRUG BUST IN SEATTLE'S HISTORY! I could see the stars in his eyes.

Looking into those eyes now, all I could see were the flames of hell burning around those beady pupils of his. The only reason I had went along with his crazy little idea was because becoming a reporter got you a nice office and hefty pay raise. And these days anything with dollar signs is good for me. I was struggling just to make ends meet as it was.

Now looking at my boss's red face and shaking pudgy shaking hands made me think twice about my decision. I tried to smooth things over as best as I could.

"Mr. Greenberg, I apologize for what happened. I-

"I'm glad you apologized Miss Swan. But there is something else that I need for you to do for me. Let's just say this could be your big chance at redemption for me."

I sighed. I never really got to say too much when Mr. Greenberg got started.

"I have a new assignment for you." He slapped down a large newspaper on his desk and pointed a chubby finger to a small article in the top right corner.

I leaned forward to see what he had put in front of me. It was a newspaper from Forks Indiana. Some little town I had never heard of before. The article he was pointing at read:

_EERIE DISAPPEARANCES IN FORKS RISE_

_A third hiker this week has disappeared in the Forks area prompting an investigation by not only local police but detectives from neighboring cities. Shawn White, 23 of Forks was last seen hiking up the Black Forest trail two days ago. When he didn't return home that evening, his father called police and a missing person's report was filed. There have been no leads in the disappearance so far. The same goes for missing hikers Destiny Harris, 22 and Justin Miles 24 who disappeared two days prior to Shawn. Edward Cullen, lead detective on the case had no comment the circumstances when we attempted to interview him._

I looked at the picture that was above the article. It showed the most gorgeous man I have ever seen in my life talking with another officer. The black and white picture made his skin look almost transparent. The caption beneath read: _Detective Cullen and officer discuss case of missing hiker Shawn White._

After reading the article I looked back up at Mr. Greenberg who had a strange look on his face. I knew immediately what he wanted me to do, and I definitely did not want to do it.

"Well Isabella, this will be a perfect story for you to cover! I need you to go to Forks and see what is going on out there. It doesn't seem like any other news station has picked up on this juicy story yet, and I want to be the first on the scene! All of my other reporters are busy with other stories and I have confidence that you can do this!"

I swear this man is bipolar.

"I need you to take a cameraman and get there ASAP! Tomorrow! Tonight! Soon! Get the scoop on this, record a good story and send it back to me. We could be bigger than CNN in no time!"

Yeah. Right.

"I have your plane ticket already purchased and waiting. A rental car ready to be picked up in Forks. All you need to do is get home and pack."

My nightmare hath begun.

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Ok so what did you guys think of the first chapter? I know it was a little short, but I have a few more written that are much much longer! And don't worry we will be getting to the awesome man candy coming soon! Please read and review and let me know what you think! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello fellow Twilight fans_

_Hello fellow Twilight fans! Here is chapter 2 of my story Red Horizon. I forgot to do a disclaimer in my first chapter (does anyone really care about these things?) so I will do one here._

_All characters copyright Stephenie Meyer. Twilight series copyright Stephenie Meyer. DON'T SUE ME STEPHENIE MEYER!! LOL_

_Anyways on with chapter 2! Please let me know what you think!_

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**Chapter 2:**

Later that evening after my lovely meeting with Mr. Greenberg, I packed my suitcase for my week long excursion into, what I am thinking, will be nothing but one disaster after another. How can Mr. Greenberg even think of sending ME of all people to cover something like this? Especially in a town that I have never even heard of. And to top it all off, I have to meet with this Detective Cullen to get the details of what has been going on. Just thinking about being within ten feet of that guy makes me nervous. He's way too handsome. UGH.

Finally I finish packing my suitcase. A shower sounds great right now to loosen up my tense muscles. As I get undressed I look into my bathroom mirror. Dark circles that have appeared under my eyes look even worse beneath the harsh lights of my bathroom. I haven't been sleeping well lately. Probably because of work stress. Or life stress. Or all of the above. My long brown hair hangs limply over my shoulders, and my brown eyes look dull. I wouldn't call myself a knockout or anything, but I clean up nicely when I want to. I just haven't had the time lately to do anything with myself.

The shower does help me a lot. Letting the hot water run over my back soothes my muscles and makes me a little sleepy. I have to be at the airport at 6 am tomorrow. My flight leaves at 7:45. I hate airports. The metal detectors and crowds and noisy announcements. Not to mention the fact that you have to practically strip down to your birthday suit so that they can make sure you have no weapons. I can recall the last time I flew out to visit my mother in Phoenix vividly. They had searched me thoroughly and finally decided that the nail file I had on my keychain could be used as a weapon of mass destruction apparently. So they yanked that away from me and just for the fun of it, decided to have the bomb sniffing dog come around and get friendly with my suitcases. Apparently most suicidal terrorists have excellently manicured nails.

Anyways, I was glad that at least I wasn't going alone. My best friend, and pretty much only friend in this town, was going along with me to experience the fun and excitement.

Jacob Black. He's been my best friend for a while now. I met him when I got started at the station. He's a camera guy there. One of the best, if not the best actually. We hit it off right away and he pretty much joins me every time I am sent out to do a story. Which is probably one of the reasons I am not too good in front of the camera.

You see, Jacob is really good looking. I mean really. He's Indian, so his skin is a lovely reddish brown. Nothing like the transparent white of my skin. And his hair, oh his hair. I can't describe it. Shoulder length, silky and black as coal. His eyes are the same color. Can't even see his pupils. He's really tall too. At least 6'5 if not more. And very muscular. Of course you can imagine the hearts breaking every time he walks past the lonely ladies at the station.

It sounds like I am crazy for this guy huh? I bet you think that we are madly in love and are going to marry and have 300 children. Wrong. Funny thing is, I have never really had those kinds of feelings for Jacob. We are just friends. He's like a brother to me really. As for his feelings for me….Well there have been rumors flying for a while now. I just try to ignore them.

My cell phone begins ringing and startles me out of my stupor. Speak of the devil. Its Jacob.

I pick up the phone after a few rings.

"Hello Jacob, what's up?"

"Bells! Just got the news from Mr. Greenberg that I am accompanying you to some little town to film some report you are doing. When were you planning on telling me this??"

"I was going to send you an email about it soon, but I assumed that Mr. Greenberg has caught you in his tentacles. Looks like I was right."

"Yeah he got me right before I was leaving, sprung the news on me."

Jacob did a perfect Greenberg impression. "SURPRISE! You get to go to the airport at 6am! Get packed now Black!"

That got me laughing. Jacob always knew how to cheer me up. "Well are you packed and ready? Taxi arrives at your house first you know."

"Yeah, yeah." He stretched as he spoke. "Ugh you know I am not a morning person…"

"Well you have no choice. Bright and early Black. Have some java waiting for me."

"Sure sure. What you doing tonight for dinner Bells? Want to meet up? I know this really good Italian place just around the corner from you."

Jacob was always trying to get me to go out with him. I had to turn him down for what seemed like the 5th time this week. And it was only Wednesday.

"Umm, no not tonight Jake. I still have my packing to do. And I want to do a little research on the story.

Jacob let out a hearty laugh. "Ok, ok Bells; well you have fun with your packing and whatnot. I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Get some sleep."

No matter how many times I turned him down, it never seemed to faze him or make him sad. I was glad to have someone like him in my life. I just wish he would get over this lovey dovey business of his and just be friends with me.

"Of course Jake, you do the same. Talk to you later." I closed my cell phone and tossed it onto my unmade bed.

Thinking about earlier today, I decided I would do a little research on what was going on in Forks and see if I could dig up a little dirt on the mysterious Detective Cullen. Remembering his picture in the paper today gave me goosebumps. How could someone so remarkably good looking even exist in this world? Even in a black and white newspaper photo, he outshined everything else on the page.

Pulling the towel that I had wrapped over my head off, I ran a brush through my tangled hair before sitting down at my laptop and logging onto the net.

First place I checked was of course Google to see if I could find out anything about Forks.

Nothing really interesting about the town caught my eye. Just your regular small town where everybody knows everyone else. West of Seattle. It wasn't really even worth flying there honestly. Probably only a 30 minute flight. But that is Mr. Greenberg for you. A bit of an idiot I suppose….Doesn't say too much for me since he is my boss.

The next thing I decided to look for was something about the mysterious Detective Cullen. Typing in his name on Google didn't get me far. Just a little snippet about him on the Forks city website. Somewhat disappointed that there wasn't even a picture to go along with the snippet, I shut my laptop down and curled up on the couch to watch some television. Maybe a good comedy will get my mind off of the fun I am going to have in the next week.

Next thing I know, my cell phone is ringing off the hook. I pick it up groggily. I must've passed out on the couch.

It's Jacob.

"Bells! BELLS! Where are you! I'm 5 minutes away. I've been calling for the past 30 minutes. Jeez you sleep like the dead."

"Ungh..Wha? Oh dammit!" Jumping up I realize that I didn't set any kind of alarm to wake me up. Looking at the nearby clock that reads 5:45 am sends me into a frenzy.

I grab my suitcase and fling it towards the door and run into my bedroom to get dressed. I threw on the first thing I pulled from my closet. Thankfully it looked decent. Looking in the mirror I noticed that my hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in centuries. No time to worry about that now though. I ran a brush through it and put it up in a messy ponytail. I'll worry about my hair later.

Just then there was a knock at my door. I knew who it was. I opened the door quickly and found Jacob standing there grinning and holding a large cup of coffee. Just what I needed. He laughed as I grabbed my suitcase and carry on bag and pushed my way out of the apartment.

"Umm Bells, are you going to turn off your TV? Or umm maybe shut off the water faucet in your bathroom?" He walked past me and turned off my television and then shut off the running water in the bathroom that I had forgotten. I'm such a moron sometimes.

"Ugh thanks Jake. It's been a wild morning already."

He smiled one of his wide smiles and took my baggage from me and handed me the coffee in his hand.

I sipped the warm liquid. Strong and slightly sweet with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon. Just the way I loved it. Jacob knew me a little too well sometimes.

We make it to the airport in record time. I think our cab drive must have been a racecar driver at one point. Or a getaway man for bank robbers. Jake is extremely chatty for such an early hour I must say. I simply listen to him and drink my liquid energy as quickly as I can.

When we get to the airport it is actually pretty quiet. Jake grabs our luggage and we get all checked in. I of course get 5 calls from Mr. Greenberg on the way to the terminal making sure that we got there early and that I remembered everything for the trip over.

"So Bells, you ready for your first big story?" Jake grins and puts his arm over my shoulder.

"I'm never ready for anything like this Jacob. You know that." I deftly spin out of his heavy grasp and retreat to the nearest bathroom to get myself together.

The circles under my eyes look even darker under the heavy fluorescent lights of the airport bathroom. "I look like crap." I say. My voice echoes over the empty stalls.

Attempting to smooth out the lumps in my hair and make myself more presentable is interrupted by Jacob yelling into the bathroom.

"Bella! The plane is boarding! Come on lets get seated."

"I'm coming!"

Ten minutes later, and two metal detectors later, I find myself seated in coach next to a very large man and Jacob. This is why I hate flying.

"Cheer up Bells. It's not the end of the world." Jacob whispers quietly as the large man next to me grins and belches.

"Yeah, not for you, Mr. Aisle seat." I lean closer to Jake just to simply get some more breathing room. This of course makes him happy.

Next stop: Forks Washington.

It's going to be a long flight.

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_Chapter 2 is done! What do you guys think!? Please read and review! Thanks so much! I promise that Edward will be in the next chapter!_


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